The contributions of this work are threefold. First, we introduce MindCraft, a task in which pairs of users collaboratively work to create novel materials by combining blocks in the 3D virtual world of Minecraft, with the ultimate objective of creating a final, goal material. Unlike prior work in situated collaborative tasks [1]}, [2]}, [3]}, a key focus of our work is to facilitate theory of mind modeling—the ability to attribute mental states, both of one's own and that of others—an important but not yet well-studied topic in situated collaborative interactions.
Within designed collaborative tasks, we have users record their beliefs about the state of the game, and of each other, at periodic intervals. Our data captures an evolution of the states of mind of our participants that are true representations of their beliefs—not simply proxies for the true sequence of events in a collaborative session. This explicit modeling of theory of mind sheds light on how partners strive to align their mental models in order to achieve common ground during collaboration.
